This LP issued in Italy only on Cenacolo M721, is a different music from usual Brainticket. Idilliac landscapes with lots of keys, synths and the voice of Carole Muriel.

Swiss Joel Vandroogenbroeck has been especially confessed thanks to its link Brainticket. Beginning years seventy delivered this group three particularly vaporous albums, with as spectacular figure the intriguing ' Celestial ocean ' from 1974 - I wrote already earlier. After falling apart Brainticket Vandroogenbroeck occupied themselves with the most divergent matter. He composed music for ballet shows, learned sitar play in India, lived some years on bali (where he qualified himself in gamelanmuziek), wrote composities for several corn, went for a ride as a jazz musician the world concerning and was artistic Leader of an experimental dansgezelschap in San Francisco. The last years Vandroogenbroeck have paid themselves on new media and Internet (to see being site brainticket-art.com) and consider he technology as dé new manner yourself to develop as an artist. Were its albums vervreemdende trips psyhedelic with Brainticket, with it's solo-album stocked Vandroogenbroeck complete other. ' Images or flute in nature ' from 1978, of its first solo-albums, a rural, thoughtful album has been interlarded, with a head role for the flute, with electronic sounds, mellotron and indian rhythms. In contrast to many new age-albums that a decade later as mushrooms from the ground shoot, Vandroogenbroeck will go varied and capriciously work; ' Hobbits ' and ' Minor ' characterise themselves by a stubborn electronic rhythm and it almost 13 minutes lasting ' Magic adventure ' swings himself by almost extraterrestrial striking as, feeërieke[?] landscapes. On clincher ' Magnetic blues ' moreover Brainticket singer Carole Muriel emerges still even.

Fabulous dreamy psych-flavored folkrock and anglo-pop shrouded in the early hippie vibe despite the vintage. Light and melodic in an L.A '67 & Donovan direction, while the lyrics hint at darker dimensions beneath the seductive surface. Possible points of reference are Bobb Trimble and the 2nd side of Marcus-House Of Trax, and don't doubt for a minute this is just as good. Use of piano on some tracks bring in a singer/songwriter sound, while retaining the 60s feel. Very solid and well-written LP that is loved by many, one of the classics of the local/private press field, and one that may also appeal to fans of the Shoes and similar melodic mid-70s pop sounds. Sespite its deluxe profile the German reissue is somewhat inferior in sound. An album of previously unreleased material titled "Sorcerer's Dream" (Void, 1999) may be worth checking out for fans of the Guinn album. [PL]~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Side one of this album is as good as anything, a truly lovely blend of pop, folk-rock and light psychedelia. Like the best music, it's of its time but evokes many great artists from before its time. He has a terrific voice too. Like Anonymous this is just plain great songwriting and performance, and whatever may or may not be psychedelic is secondary. Side two is pretty great too, but repeats a few of the ideas from the first side, and overall this maybe ends up being a notch below Zerfas or Anonymous, which still makes it in the top 10 or so for private press LPs. It's something everyone should hear. [AM]~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

SONGS:Better Than YouPower And SacrificeYou Know NothingSong For Dead TimeWill We SurviveLove Will Save YouFailureSong For The SunMiracle Of LoveWhen She BreathesWhy Are We Alive?The Most Unfortunate Lie

Crawling out of the same noisy, arty New York underground , Swans created a dark, abrasive, murky, slowed-down noise rock that served as a starting point for their ruminations about alienation, depression, depravity, and the disturbing side of human nature. Singers Michael Gira and Jarboe have been the group's only constants over the years.

The opening track "Better Than You" almost says it all: Starting with the wail of an infant, then suddenly crashing into surging music that mixes quick, energetic drums with bells and other instruments, the song turns into a dramatic acoustic guitar/percussion piece with Gira's brooding voice and Jarboe's haunting backing; after some re-developments of the themes, it ends with a beautiful restatement of the sung section with additional guitar and bell sounds. At once incredibly destructive and astoundingly life-affirming — and worth the entire Burning World album several times over — "Better Than You" demonstrates that Swans had emerged even more powerful and artistic than before, aiming for an awesome, all-encompassing majesty in their music that the admittedly hypnotic earlier versions of the band, in their brute forcefulness, simply could not have achieved. Interestingly, a number of players from Burning World and other Bill Laswell associates participate on White Light, but hereas sole producer marshals everyone's collective efforts to heights that Laswell either was unwilling or unable to do. Also notably, Westberg is all but absent on guitar, with new arrival Clinton Steele taking the fore as the major instrumentalist after Gira and Jarboe themselves. Picking out all the highlights from such a stunning disc is practically impossible, but three of the flat-out classic marvels here are: "You Know Nothing," with its simply lovely introduction and Gira's commanding singing; "Song for Dead Time," a gentle Jarboe-sung number filled out by a simple but effective string-synth arrangement; and "Failure," carried by a buried guitar strum, Gira's Sisyphean lyric, and brief, lush choruses. Simply put, this is out and out brilliant as the clear starting point for the second half of Swans' unique career.

In an attempt to make Muddy Waters more sellable to his newly-found White audience, Chess lumbered him with Hendrix-influenced psychedelic blues arrangements for Electric Mud. Commercially, actually, the results weren't bad; Marshall Chess claims it sold between 150,000 and 200,000 copies. Musically, it was as ill-advised as putting Dustin Hoffman into a Star Wars epic. Guitarists Pete Cosey and Phil Upchurch are very talented players, but Muddy's brand of downhome electric blues suffered greatly at the hands of extended fuzzy solos. Muddy and band overhaul classics like "I Just Want to Make Love to You" and "Hoochie Coochie Man," and do a ludicrous cover of "Let's Spend the Night Together"; wah-wah guitars and occasional wailing soprano sax bounce around like loose basketballs. It's a classically wrongheaded, crass update of the blues for a modern audience. ~ Richie Unterberger, All Music Guide.

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MUDDY WATERS -- Electric Mud (MCA/Chess)

MCA recently reissued the album hailed by some blues purists as the worst blues album ever recorded--Muddy Waters' Electric Mud. Originally released in the spring of 1968, Electric Mud was Waters' first excursion into the world of 'psychedelia.' Since they were marketing Waters (at the time) primarily to the white hippies, it made sense to Marshall Chess (son of Leonard Chess, founder of Chess Records) that Waters should do an album like this. Unfortunately, it presented a problem when Waters tried to play the songs live. He didn't like having to perform in front of a huge stack of amplifiers to achieve the sound of the album.

Is Electric Mud really as bad as they say? It depends on the context in which you listen to it. As a blues/rock album, it's not that bad. As with most albums from the psychedelic era, there's a lot of channel fading (vocals in one channel, music in the other, then vice versa, etc.). However, there are still some great guitar licks being thrown around, especially on "I Just Want to Make Love to You," "She's Alright" (which segues into a "My Girl" jam), and "Mannish Boy." The interesting thing here is that, according to the liner notes, none of the guitar work is by Waters himself.

As a straight blues album, it's a joke. The majority of the players on Electric Mud were actually avant-garde jazz musicians, and most of them were not able to adequately span the two genres. Gene Barge's wailing tenor sax on the album is out of place and annoying. It just doesn't work. The cover of "Let's Spend the Night Together" is probably more noteworthy than any other cut on the album. It's been called 'unintentionally hilarious,' among other less-than-flattering remarks. I'll just call it . . . different. Imagine Waters trying to sing the lyrics to the music of "Get Ready." You get the idea.

So what's the bottom line -- is this CD worth picking up or not? It depends on what type of blues you're into. If you're a purist, you probably already know to skip this one. If blues/rock is more your style, or you're just discovering the master, it's worth a listen, but check out some of Muddy's more traditional work first.

Markos was born to a poor working family on the island of Syros in 1905. His father played the greek bagpipes called Gaida and Markos would accompany him on the dog-skinned drum. When Markos was eight years old he left school to work with his mother in a cotton thread factory, which he promptly ditched and started picking up odd jobs like newspaper boy, butchers assistant, eventually getting mixed up with the underworld of the streets.

When he was fifteen years old he stowed away on a ship to Piraeus and got a job loading coals on the docks. This was tough, low-down work, but the nights were all about hashish and women. He was kept in fine clothes by an older whore and hung out at the tekes((place where underground people gathered to listen to rembetiko music and smoke hasish) every night. In 1925, Markos heard Old Nikos play bouzouki and was immediately hooked. Six months later he was playing at a teke when Old Nikos stopped by, he couldn't believe it was the same kid who'd never even played a few months earlier. Nikos said they'd show Markos something i the morning and he'd come back and play it better than them in the evening.

Because the bouzouki was considered a low-class instrument, it had not been recorded until 1932 when Yiannis Halikias (aka Jack Gregory), a greek-american, recorded his "Minor Tou Deke". The record was very popular, so Spyros Peristeris, who was working as a record producer, composer and instrumentalist for Odeon records in Greece, convinced Odeon to record Vamvakaris. In 1933, Peristeris supervised, and played guitar on Markos' first recording session (although he had recorded two songs in 1932 for Columbia, they were not released until later). Markos recorded one zebekiko, O Dervises, and one Hassapiko, O Harmanes. Markos hadn't considered himself a singer but ended up doing the vocals on these records. They were very successful and Markos' rough and powerful singing became fashionable.

Markos eventually teamed up with singer Stratos Pagioumitzis, baglamatzis Jiorgos Batis, and bouzouki player Anestis Delias to form his famous Piraeus Quartet. His popularity was sustained throughout the 1930's, despite growing political turmoil. Eventually the style of rebetika that Markos had pioneered became more mainstream, and by the 1940's Tsitsanis had started changing the subject matter to be about love and less about hashish, prison and other rebetika topics. Likewise, Hiotis started changing the sound of the music, adding strings to the bouzouki in 1956 and moving towards a more flashy, electric and westernized sound. Markos continued to record in his older style through this period. He passed away in 1972.

1000 Travels of Jawaharlal was formed in Kita-Kyushu in the west of Japan in January 1999. Line-up was Koichiro Shimoda [Vocals, Guitar], Shinichi Iwata [Bass], Kenji Yoshida [Drum, Vocals]. This line up released a CD EP [October 1999] as well as a split CD with Minority Blues Band [November 2000]. Both records were released on the Japanese record label ImoMuShi Records, and a split with Bowfura we released ourselves [May 2000]. Among those records were released 1000 Travels of Jawaharlal had toured Japan several times. In April 2001 Kenji left the band. After half a year of looking out for a new drummer Yasuaki Nakazono was finally added in October 2001. In 2002 1000 Travels toured Japan extensively with the new line up. The band expresses the musical taste of its members. Emotive punk rock bands such as Rites Of Spring, Jawbreaker, Hüsker Dü, Leatherface were named. In early 2003 they recorded their first full length LP/CD which was released on ImoMuShi again for Japan as well as on Day After from Czech Republic for Europe. After the release of the record 1000 Travels of Jawaharlal toured Japan extensively throughout the spring, followed by a three weeks European tour with Light The Fuse And Run from the US.

1000 Travels of JawaharlalOwari Wa KonaiNothing else here other than totally cheese-free, übertight, emotive and heartfelt hardcore, delivered by these jap punks. Pretty much in the vein of early DC emocore pioneers such as Rites of Spring, Dag Nasty or Ignition, with more than a passing nod to latter bands like Torches to Rome. Which means, really, really ace stuff.

Saturday, September 16, 2006

Hello Guys,

We've decided that it would be a good idea if everyonewho browses this blog could post something too. Thiswill help our blog grow and will contribute indeveloping a better variety and imroved quality(wehope..hehe).

That's why we've created a common account for all ofyou out there.

The NEW user name isgatheringofthetribeandthe NEW password islostintyme

Log-in Here : (as a New Blogger)

You will make the post in a privete blogand after you've post it we will re-post it, in the related blog.It would be a nice idea if everyone who postssomething add and his/hers nickname in case to get the credits for the post.

If someone wants to join our team as a regular member,feel free to contact us and we will take it under consideration.

Although the best-known band of the early Australian punk scene of the late '70s was the Saints, the first band to wave the punk rock flag in the land down under was Radio Birdman. Formed by Australian émigré Deniz Tek (originally from Ann Arbor, MI) and Aussie surfer-turned-vocalist Rob Younger in 1974, Radio Birdman's approach to rock & roll was rooted in the high-energy, apocalyptic guitar rant of the Stooges and MC5, sprinkled liberally with a little East Coast underground hard rock courtesy of Blue Oyster Cult. Their first EP,Burn My Eyereleased in 1976, was a great record and still remains a seminal chunk of Aussie punk. Loud and snotty, with Younger bellowing his guts out and Tek on a search-and-destroy mission with his guitar, this was a great debut that set the stage for the impending deluge of Aussie punk bands waiting in the wings. After the release of their debut LP,Radios Appear (the title comes from a lyric in the Blue Oyster Cult song "Dominance and Submission"), in Australia a year later, Radio Birdman seemed poised to break Aussie punk worldwide. And although the American label Sire (then the home of the Ramones) was quick to sign them and distributeRadios Appearinternationally in 1978, there was a gap of three years before they released a second album, Living Eyes. During that time, dozens of other Aussie punk bands stole their thunder, and Radio Birdman split up almost immediately afterLiving Eyes was released. Sire never released the record outside of Australia, and Radio Birdman, who should have been the biggest band in Aussie punk, was now a highly regarded punk forefather. After the band split in 1978, various members were busy forming other bands:TEK formed the New Race with Younger,ex-Stooges guitarist Ron Asheton and ex-MC5 drummer Dennis Thompson, released a handful of solo singles and EPs, and became a surgeon;Younger started his own band, the New Christs, and produced records by the second generation of Aussie punk bands influenced by Radio Birdman, most notablythe Celibate Rifles; other Radio Birdman alumni ended up in assorted Aussie bands such as the Lime Spiders, Hoodoo Gurus, and Screaming Tribesmen. Now the grand old man of Aussie punk, Tek formed a part-time project with Celibate Rifles guitarist Kent Steedman that rocks with the same reckless abandon Radio Birdman did when they were changing the course of Australian rock forever. 2001 saw a renewal of interest in Radio Birdman thanks to an excellent compilation,The Essential Radio Birdman 1974-1978released by Sub Pop in the States.Murder city Nights : livearrived in 2003, followed by the all-newZeno Beachin 2006.

Kubano Kickasso is the long awaited studio album from Nik Turner's “Fantastic Allstars” ensemble, augmented by familiar guest percussionists. This is zoot cool jazz that begs you to dance, shaken (and occasionally stirred) with latin grooves, Afro-Cuban rave, and a healthy dose of boogie. Featuring some flash original tunes as well as several of the Allstars' own particular flavour of cherished standards, its outstanding clarity delivers all the customary sensation of their club presence. A must-have soundtrack for your next party.

Nik TurnerFrom Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Nik Turner is a British musician, probably best known as a founder of space rock pioneers Hawkwind. Turner plays saxophones, flute, sings and is a composer. While with Hawkwind Turner was known for his experimental free jazz stylizations and outrageous stage presence, often donning full makeup and Ancient Egypt-inspired costumes. Days with Hawkwind and personality conflictsDespite his seemingly Pleasant personality, Turner battled frequently with bandleader/guitarist Dave Brock, who felt that the former overplayed in a distracting fashion and used musical pretenses to disguise his poor playing. Turner's relationship with bassist Lemmy Kilmister gradually disintegrated throughout the early 1970s, spurned on by a feature in New Musical Express that seemed to portray Kilmister as the sole frontman of the group. Fundamentally, Turner's "quintessential hippie" persona clashed with Kilmister's identification with bikers and use of amphetamines.

After Kilmister was arrested for illegal posession of amphetamines during a 1975 North American tour, Turner instigated the bassist's dismissal from Hawkwind. Other band members, namely Brock, came to regret the reluctant decision, and Turner began to be perceived as something of a manipulator. After 1976's Amazing Sounds, Astounding Music, a poorly received fusion-oriented release heavily influenced by Turner, he ceased playing with the group. This too was a bone of contention: while Brock and lead singer Robert Calvert claimed they had dismissed Turner (with two other members), the saxophonist characterized it as more of a band mutiny against the twosome.

Later YearsOver the years Turner has played with many musicians and collaborations. Much of his output continued in the Hawkwind vein, but Turner has also explored other genres. Directly after leaving Hawkwind in the mid 1970's, Turner formed the band Sphinx with Steve Hillage of Gong.

In the late 1970s when Steve Took's Horns broke up he formed Inner City Unit (ICU) from the key Horns members: Judge Trev Thoms and Dino Ferari although Steve Peregrin Took (ex-T Rex) continued to work with his former band members and guested with ICU at a number of gigs.

Turner eventually resolved his differences with Brock and rejoined various reconstituted Hawkwind line-ups throughout the 1980s. He performed at the final Stonehenge Free Festival in 1984.

Turner also worked with Twink under the name PinkWind, a group named by combining the monikers of the musicians' former groups: Turner's Hawkwind, and Twink and Steve Took's Pink Fairies. Mick Farren was also a member. PinkWind released two albums. Some line-ups also featured Judge Trev Thoms.

In 2000 Turner apologized to Kilmister and organized a one-off reunion of the seminal [[Space Ritual]] line-up of Hawkwind (excluding Stacia and Calvert). Although lofty plans included further apperances and a live album extracted from the show, as of 2006 nothing has materialized due to renewed animosity between Turner and Brock.

Recently, his two main bands have been SpaceRitual and Nik Turner's Allstars with flexible and overlapping line-ups (as was the case in the early 1970s with Hawkwind and the Pink Fairies.) At some of his gigs former Hawkwind members have guested including Ron Tree and, until his death, Robert Calvert.

Turner regularly plays with new and experimental musicians and also busks with his roadie Erv near his home in Wales.

His current musical endevours include the jazz/funk quintet Galaktikos and an album & tour with American space rockers Spaceseed.

Attila Kollár is the flute player in the seminal Hungarian progressive rock band Solaris. His first solo album Musical Witchcraft (Periferic Records BGCD 016) bears strong resemblance to Solaris' music, and actually most of the band's late-nineties line-up appear on it. The music is largely constructed around Kollár's simple enough but beautiful flute melodies, which draw from Hungarian folk music but also strongly from baroque and renaissance themes. While the melodies are not really developed to any large degree, their splendour and the strength of the arrangements surrounding them provide more than enough interest and variation to make for an enjoyable 45-minute musical work without any unnecessary padding or stretching (most songs stay below the 5-minute mark). The supporting instrumentation can range from simple acoustic guitar and tambourine to full-blown band backing. In keeping with Solaris' style, there are also a more rocking songs with chunky guitar riffs and shredding solos, and this is where Kollár can add some Ian Anderson-styled flutter and wheeze to his playing. The main difference to Solaris is the lesser attention given to keyboards which are now reduced to accompainement. Without analog synth solos and with the occasional use of programmed rhythms, the album sound is pushed slightly more towards "modern" than with Solaris who always seem to strike a delicate balance between the retro and contemporary aspects of their sound. Three songs rise above the rest: "Boleriade" carries the album's most memorable, lambent melody over martial drumming; "Silent Man's Prayer" is a full-blown symphonic rock track with various tempo and rhythm shifts and solos; and "Ba'rock'" a spirited adaptation of a few J.S. Bach themes, with guitar, keyboards and flute racing through scales in amusing unison. In many ways this is comparable to Solaris' 1999 release Nostradamus - Book of Prophecies, though exhibiting a narrower and perhaps brighter palette, and should be enjoyable to all those who like that album. ~Kai Karmanheimo

Golly gosh, here's rare one! Pure Deya. Dedicated to Daevid and Gilli and worked on at the Bananamoon Observatory in Deya. This release will be extremely limited, less than 500 copies for sale worldwide. So the only absolutely certain way of getting a copy is by pre-ordering. But as the company are still getting quotes we don't know what the final retail price will be, I guess between £20.00 - £30.00, and the postage will be quite high due to the weight. However I will let all who pre-order this release know a total price before debiting any cards and give you a chance to confirm, or decline your order. I've recently been told to expect a release date sometime later this year (2006).2LP set in a gatefold sleeve that is actually a book with more than 100 pages, more than half of them in full colour. Plans are to print/press 500 copies only 250 of which will be for distribution. Originally projected as a 2LP + Book set, this is the first time ever this great work is released as it was conceived, since the mega rare french release from the mid-70's only included one of the LPs and was missing the great book with the beautiful engravings by Juan Arkotxa.The reissue of the legendary Book Of Am, a unique combination of recordings and artwork which stands up as an enduring testament of the fertile hippie scene which flourished in the Baleric islands during the seventies. Known to record collectors and psych/folk/prog music aficionados alike, this multi cultural band formed in the island of Mallorca in the mid 70's recorded a beautiful (and outrageously scarce) album which has gained cult status as years passed by.

Tuesday, September 12, 2006

SPACEHEAD - In Space We Trust ...'95-'98

(spacerock)

Mr. Dibs was a founder member of legendary space-rock outfit Krel, who gigged extensively in the early nineties, famously supporting Hawkwind on the Electric Teepee Tour in 1992. Spacehead formed in 1994, originally as a solo project, but with great interest in the first cassette release, Mr.Dibs was inspired to put a full band together, and four more cassettes followed. Mr. Dibs and Phil Howard (Cellular Structure, and now PXR-1) gigged the early material as a two-piece with drum loops, eventually recruiting drummer Paul Boers from Holland to record an album for Hawkwind's Emergency Broadcast System, "...Of Star and Time."

Phil left the project soon after this, and Dibs, Paul, and new boys, Will Brazier-Smith (guitar), and Gavin Maelstrom (keyboards) recorded the "Anasazi" cassette. A deal with Dead Earnest resulted in the release of a second CD, "In Space We Trust", featuring most of that cassette, and live material recorded supporting Hawkwind in 1997.

1999 saw another line-up change, when Dibs was joined by Craig Dewberry on drums, and Fran Halsall on keyboards, who gigged with Graham for a while before being joined by Martyn Needham from Derby space-rockers Dr. Hasbeen on guitar duties. This line-up recorded an EP, "Escape Velocity Preview", with Neil Mycock from Craig's old band Flaw on extra guitar. (Neil had, in-fact, played a couple of gigs with the band in between Graham's departure and Martyn joining).

2001 saw the band releasing another compilation "Explode Into Space- Inhalations 1998-2000", and work began on a proper studio album, tentatively titled "Escape Velocity". Of course, all things change, and yet another line-up shuffle in 2002 brought Keef Barton in on guitar and keyboards to play the Sonic Rock Solstice near Garstang, with Graham on guitar, and Neil Mycock (the same!) on drum duties. This gig revitalised the band, and waiting in the wings at SRS having done the soundcheck, Robin Julian joined as permanent drummer, performing his first gig at the inaugural Hawkfest in Devon. Some very successful gigs followed, and in early 2003, Mr. Floyd, originally a Krellian, joined on keyboards.

Switched on tuned out tuned in space rock from some inner city unit somewhere on the edge of time. Spacehead are very very Hawkwind indeed, Hawkwind with a slightly punky Mournblade/Underground Zero/Tubulah Dog D.I.Y vibe. Classic Festi space-punk earfood, a Krel offshoot who now seem to haveGong's Graham Clark on board their throbbing forward moving space ship. The second track here is called "Brockstomp" I think that gives you a big enough clue. If you're in to the Hawkwind/Gong oscillating space rock fest-jam wind synth sound then Spacehead do it extremely well.Spacehead aren't quite the same moulds as the mighty Hawks though. Whilst the chanted vocals may seem familiar and the synth effects (come on, there are limits to the sound FX you can make with old analogue synths!), ya gets much heavier drumming and EXTREMELY dirty guitar.

Suitably trippy (not that we're suggesting anything illegal, you understand), psyched submerged guitar work, clips and samples, dirt and heaviness. Violin comes courtesy of Graham Clark (ex-Gong), who's more in he vein of Jean-Luc Ponty than Simon House, bit jazzier. Noisy buggers!Pretty damn good, as live stuff goes. but I'll bet it sounded much better if you were there, it always does. Must search out the EBS release, if just for my private collection. Recommended for space heads everywhere

HERE ARE THE REST AND WHOLE DISCOGRAPHY OF THIS LEGENDARY AND MY LOVELY 60's R'n'B GROUP,INCLUDED THEIR RARE EP ''Jazz In Jeans'' PLUS THEIR 6 SINGLES (both sides), ONE BY ONE.IN ADDITION YOU WILL SEE TWO EXTRA GREAT SONGS FROM THEM.

I done my best for you in order to have those brilliant songs that not included in Art Gallery LP.I hope to really enjoy this great group !!

UK R&B /Blues/Garage blaster with Jon Lord(Deep Purple) Keef Hartley(John Mayall) Mac Poole(Bakerloo) with all the right sounds!! It's really a legendary LP that was an enjoyable mixture of club-oriented soul, R&B, and jazz with a strong organ spice, although it found them falling seriously behindtheir contemporaries in the British R&B scene in a crucial respect.

Formed in London in 1964. Arthur Wood is the elder brother of Ronnie Wood. Red Bludd's Blusicians had been formed in 163 and the Artwoods were formed following the departure of Don "Red Bludd" Wilson who played bass and Red Dunnage the drummer. Jon Lord came from the Bill Ashton Combo while Art Wood has sung with Alexis Korner's Blues Incorporated. Keef had previously played with Rory Storm & the Hurricanes, replacing a certain Ringo Starr, and Freddie Starr and the Midnighters.The Artwoods gained a reputation as the hardest working R & B band on the circuit. The live set consisted of both Chicago Blues standards and original material. Many appearances were made on the top UK pop TV show Ready, Steady Go. Originally the groups mimed to songs but, over time, more and more live performances were allowed. The Artwoods performed on the first Ready Steady Goes Live. Tom Jones mimed to It's Not Unusual on the show. The Kinks andDonovan played live and the Artwoods promoted their first single ''Sweet Mary''.The group was very popular in the clubs around London but they never equaled this on record despite releasing an LP, an EP and a string of singles. The only chart single was the 1966 ''I Take What I Want'' although this is not corroborated by The Guinness Book of British Hit Singles. This was a cover of a Sam & Dave song.There was also one EP called ''Jazz in Jeans'' and an album Art Gallery. There were successful tours of Europe and Poland. Eel Pie Island was a regular gig with the band playing there about once a month. This is an island in the Thames which had to be reached over a small bridge, theequipment requiring three trips. It was everybody's dream to walk into the Blue Boar just as their hit of the moment was playing on the jukebox."The Artwoods were chosen to represent the 20th Century at the centenary celebrations of the State of Monte Carlo. The ball was held in the Casino. After this, the band traveled to Paris and played next door to the Moulin Rouge at The Locomotive.The band split in 1967 and, at a time of psychedelia, there was a name change to St Valentine's Day Massacre. This was intended to "cash in" on the thirties-style gangsters craze which had been started by the film Bonnie & Clyde. Brother Can You Spare a Dime was a cover of an old Bing Crosby song. Keef Hartley left the band in 1967 to join John Mayall's Bluesbreakers andlater formed the Keef Hartley Band. Jon Lord joined the Flowerpot Men and later moved to Deep Purple. Derek Griffiths became a session player. Quiet Melon was formed in July 1969 when the Jeff Beck Group folded. Lead singer Rod Stewart was left without a band and started hanging out with Ronnie Wood, his brother Art Wood and Ronnie Lane, Kenney Jones and IanMcLagan. Art Wood got them a recording session at the Fontana studios, where he had a contract and, according to Art, recorded four songs - Diamond Joe, Engine 4444, Right Around The Thumb, and Two Steps To Mother. They delivered the tapes to Fontana who said the tracks weren't good enough and canceled Art's contract. The group then got a promoter called Rufus Manning to try and get them a deal but nobody wanted to know. The group played quite a few gigs but the project soon folded and Art retired from the music business tobecome a Graphic Designer. The remaining members - Ronnie Wood, Rod Stewart, Ronnie Lane, Kenney Jones and Ian McLagan then inherited the name the Small Faces which was soon shortened to the Faces.

Monday, September 11, 2006

Yes, that's exactly how you'd think British psychedelic music recorded by Greek musicians in France would sound. Provided you'd ever think about it.

Track listing:1) End Of The World;2) Don't Try To Catch A River;3) Mister Thomas;4) Rain And Tears;5) The Grass Is No Green;6) Valley Of Sadness;7) You Always Stand In My Way;8) The Shepherd And The Moon;9) Day Of The Fool;

The best way to explain a particularly unusual sound is, of course, try and do it through comparison. Like "The Flaming Lips sound like the Beach Boys trying to sound like the Beatles if Brian Wilson tried to sound like John Lennon and not like Paul McCartney". Or "Pearl Jam sound like shit". Yes, despite the numerous annoying yelps of people who contend that every piece of music should be listened to based on its own individual rules, comparison is nevertheless a mighty weapon in the hands of a reviewer. So here's to comparison.Now then, we were going to talk Aphrodite's Child and their debut album here. And the first and foremost comparison I would offer are none other than the Moody Blues. Yes, by all means, as Vangelis and his compatriot, croonster extraordinaire Demis Roussos (let's just forget his solo career ever existed, shall we?) ponder over the artistic path to take, they certainly take the Moody Blues into account. Well, maybe a little Bee Gees, too. But given their background (Greece) and their working environment (France), they couldn't just emulate any of these bands. No, they had their own private ambitions, more expansive indeed than the soon-to-be tummy of Roussos, and the ones that are responsible for both the positive and negative aspects of the record.From a purely serious (logical, mathematical, rational, cold-hearted, snobby, sarcastic, nihilistic, post-modern, politically correct - or politically incorrect, not that there's much difference) point of view, this album sucks notoriously. Cheesy syrupy vocals that make you think better of Ted Nugent on atmospheric pretentious ballads that make you think better of Billy Joel. "Epic" numbers with big bombastic production exploiting psychedelic cliches that scream "1968!" at you as if they really want to make you believe that was the most important year in history or something. (Actually, I can't prove that it wasn't, but I wouldn't include Aphrodite's Child into its top ten events all the same). Whitebread soul excourses. No truly independent vision. A bunch of kids who want to be stern and artsy and actual but don't have the least idea of what they'd actually like to tell the world - and why is it that it's Aphrodite's Child the world needs to tell these things and not Neil Diamond, for instance.But strange as it is, it all works. It's one of those crazy paradoxes I like to discover - the sound is technically not "original", yet it's definitely unique in its own way. And, of course, it's all due to the astute Greek mind of Vangelis. There are some guitars on here theoretically, but I hardly hear them (and as far as I know, these guys weren't too hot on guitars themselves, with Roussos and an uncredited guy called Silver Kolouris handling them alternatively); all the record is thoroughly based on Vangelis' keyboards. And boy, does he revel on here: there's nothing even closely resembling the stern minimalism of his solo work. Pianos, organs, Mellotrons, overdubbed to hysterical level, all played in a vicious, aggressive manner. That doesn't mean he sounds anywhere near Emerson, as throughout the entire record he evades show-off-ey finger-flashing warp-speed solos and the like. But he shows himself to be an apt user of all kinds of sonic gimmicks, with echoey production, reverb, distortion, etc., and thus compensates for the lack of guitar perfectly.It all really comes together on raving tracks like 'You Always Stand In My Way', which might have passed for a stupid take on "soul", with Roussos almost throwing a fit in the studio, if not for an absolutely incredible keyboards arrangement. A moody, but sharp organ pattern in one speaker - a majestic heavenly Mellotron part in the other speaker, plus occasional distorted harpsichord notes added to achieve further perfection. Same goes with 'Don't Try To Catch A River', whose title brings on strange associations with 'River Deep Mountain High' (indeed, there are melodic similarities as well) - the main harpsichord pattern that drives it is pretty funny, while the occasional whooshing Mellotron outbursts and organ 'insertions' attract your attention as fine as anything.This magnificent keyboard sound is, like I said, the main attraction and distinguishing sign of the entire record - in 1968, few people would dare to bring keyboard experimentation to such complex levels, not even the Nice. But I won't deny that the melodies themselves are also pretty fun. For instance, I quite enjoy the three "corny" ballads - heck, if I enjoy the Moody Blues and ELO, nothing can prevent me from praising a ballad by Aphrodite's Child when it's really well-written. 'End Of The World' is my favourite, with a few well-placed hooks, a few adrenaline-raising powerful piano chords and a few chillin' 'AIIIEEEYAH' by Roussos that are probably meant to signify the protagonist approaching said 'end of the world' (yeah, the song's simply a love ballad, but "metaphysically loaded", if you know what I mean). The European megahit 'Rain And Tears' is pretty nice as well, graced with luvingly gentle harpsichord playing... and say what you will, but Roussos' tremblin' oh-so-Greek vocals are indeed beautiful in their own way. 'Valley Of Sadness' is also good, if a bit repetitive.The two 'epics' of the album are a bit more dubious - 'The Grass Is No Green', in particular, sounds exactly like what you'd expect of two intelligent well-bred kids having inhaled for the first time and describing the results. But Roussos' Eastern influenced chanting is catchy and, well you know, authentic. It's really a triviality, but I'd still like to remind that these Greek guys really knew what 'Eastern motives' are better than anybody in the Western world, as popular Greek music is infested with Turkish influences - which means that, experienced potheads or not, they could be pretty good at capturing the 'pothead world' as it is. And turns out they were pretty good at capturing the world of paranoia, as well, as 'Day Of The Fool', the album-closing number where Roussos impersonates a poor romantic madman (quite a thrilling story, too).About the only misfire, I'd say, is 'Mister Thomas' - a rather lame Britpop imitation a la Ray Davies which naturally comes across as nothing but a manneristic number, too carnivalesque for its own good. Well, I'd be surprised if they did succeed in this genre, so it's simply a bit strange they'd want to try the style out at all. Maybe they were big Kinks fans? Whatever.It's interesting to speculate on the subject of what could have happened if the band were allowed to work in Britain (they weren't) and recorded and released End Of The World in London instead of Paris, consequently reaching the "progressive" Anglo-Saxon part of the population instead of the "uncool" continental European part. At the very least, this could have seriously cost the Moody Blues a big part of their fanbase. On the other hand, maybe it was only logical to have stayed on the continent, as Vangelis' heavy use of interweaving keyboard and orchestration parts certainly ties in far better with the European symphonic practice than with the far more restrained British tradition. It's fun to compare this "catchy", "commercial" sound that Aphrodite's Child have with some of the "inaccessible", "elitist" music of Britain's most renowned prog bands and eventually discover that in certain ways, Vangelis wrote music that was far more complex and multi-layered. You just don't notice it at first, but it's right there. Cool album, in short - if a bit too eccentric for its own good.

Combining the DIY punk ethos of CRASS, DISCHARGE, and AMEBIX, with the psychedelicLSD energy of HAWKWIND and OZRIC TENTACLES, and a dash of SIOUXSIE & THE BANSHEES and THE SLITS, IOWASKA create their own unique blend of space-rock, punk, and cosmic thrash. This British band offers a potent cocktail of LSD driving guitars, haunting melodies, throbbing bass lines, and a thundering beat. With lyrics to put a thought in your mind and a chill up your spine, IOWASKA's sheer seething power and irrepressible passion combine for an ecstatic LSD ride. Theyhave played with CAPTAIN SENSIBLE, CHUMBAWUMBA, CITIZEN FISH and DIRT, as well as many other punk and space-rock veterans, andLSD frequently command the stage at huge UK festivals. IOWASKA’s performances feature a memorable light show, dubbed "Medicine Lights", which combines aLSD fractal sea of oil slides and psychedelia, with cinema footage of momentous, radical political events(obviously they are anarchists-neo paganists!!! LSD), tailored to fit their lyrics.

Guitar player/vocalist Sam Skraeling began herLSDmusical career by lending her distinctive voice to AMEBIX for the "No Sanctuary" EP. She began playing guitar with the SKRAELINGS in 1991. The following year, Sam and bandmate Graham performedLSDan impromptu festival show with Martin, their current drummer. Excited by theLSDchemistry, they vowed to collaborate again whenever their paths crossed. As luck would have it, they finally got their chance in 1994.

Originally called "Ayahuasca", from an Arthur BrownLSDsong about a South American hallucinogen, they later altered the spelling to match the pronunciation. IOWASKA played their first show in August 1994, three weeks after theirLSDformation. The band soon had the opportunity to support fire-helmeted, psyche-screamer Arthur Brown in London, and embarked on their first major UK tour in July 1995 with R.D.F. (Radical Dance Faction), a popular punk/ska/dub band. IOWASKA gained an immediate following and a sizable mailingLSD list, for which the band crafted a free fanzine shortly after. In true rock & roll LSD spirit, a new bass player had to learn the entire set in the tour van, when the original bassist suddenly dropped theLSD ball. He pulled it off with style and the crowd was none the wiser. The band continued to tour heavily between 1996-1999, playing festivals, squat parties, warehouse LSDshows, political demonstrations, and many of the major U.K. venues.

In 1999, JELLO BIAFRA caught LSDan IOWASKA performance in London, and was allegedly spottedLSDdancing in the pit! He enthusiastically likened the band to "the Cambodia side of the Dead Kennedys". In November 2000, the band entered theLSDstudio to record "Vine of Souls"CD/LP for Alternative Tentacles (release: April 2001). The stunning cover art and booklet are both handpainted by Sam, and feature her distinctive LSD calligraphy. She declares, "Although computers would be quicker, I still prefer the human touch when it comes toLSDart and music!" Old schoolLSDindeed!

Once again, I'm impressed. The band's ability to present themselves as a historical curio/novelty act second time in a row, with a whole bunch of unpredictable twists and classy songwriting-a-plenty, is certainly worth admiring. "Novelty" - I'm not hesitating to use that word, because in this particular context I'm peeling off its negative connotations. Certainly the idea of, for instance, having the President of the United States whacking his Secretary of State with a golf club is "novel" (not to mention rather crude), but this would certainly immortalize the name of the President with far more success than any amount of tax cuts or Operation Freedoms. Likewise, the idea of raffinated, classically-educated Greek young men take on genres like funk, country, and music hall may seem grotesque - and it is, and that's what's so unbelievably cool about it.The band's second album is thus even more diverse than the first one. Vangelis, Roussos and Sideras are all over the place again, only this time, true to the "back to the roots" spirit of 1969, they take it a little easier on the psychedelic vibe and instead, get a bit harder and heavier in some spots and a bit "rootsier" in others. Which doesn't actually prevent them from ending the record on one of the silliest notes that ever came out of Mr Evangelos Papathanassiou's pocket. But that's the gist!Oddly enough, though, the experimentation is even more "solidly" counterbalanced with Roussos' trademark croonster ballads - ballads that are getting dippier all the time and give some serious hints at the San Remo-targeted, sugar-coated mush that would constitute his solo career. (Actually, it's no coincidence that I mention San Remo here: in between this and the preceding album, Aphrodite's Child did record a couple ballads expressly for the San Remo festival. I have them on the 2-disc Collection which also comprises both studio albums, but haven't yet dared to listen - and I doubt I will unless somebody provides me with a priori evidence that could convince me to try them out. For Heaven's sake - one of them is called 'Quando L'Amore Divente Poesia'!!) Luckily, Vangelis is always there to save the day with a visionary organ/Mellotron landscape or two; his participation is what rescues 'Annabella', in particular, apart from the odd, almost proto-ambient, background, merely an atmospheric love chant bathed in sounds of the ocean, the kind of thing that Bryan Ferry would do with much more class anyway but a few years later. Same goes for the European hit 'Marie Jolie' - originally released as the B-side to the far more interesting 'Let Me Love Let Me Live', but since the latter raised too many questions (see below), it was naturally the former that the people were going for.On the other hand, complaints do not apply to the gorgeous title track, where the main inspiration certainly was 'A Whiter Shade Of Pale' (naturally! who wouldn't want to make history with a stately mid-tempo organ-based anthem? The easy way to achieve demi-god status at least in some people's eyes); yet this doesn't prevent the song from having hooklines of its own, as well as building up to a series of climaxes so overblown and yet so adequate - all thanks to Roussos' undeniable vocal power - that they almost manage to beat Procol Harum at their own game. It's hard to tell whether it's this track or 'End Of The World' that better epitomizes the "lonely romantic" spirit of the age, but in the end it all depends on whether you're preferring to imagine yourself astride the top of a moonlit cliff or a-walking down that moonlit forest path. (And don't tell me you've never tried to imagine either. The only people that don't are those that sue fast food chains over extra calories).If you do happen to like these ballads, though, and would like to challenge me to an ICQ duel for daring to criticize 'Annabella', chances are you might not like the rest of the album - which is a fine illustration for the term "eclecticism" if there ever was one. Let's list some of the candidates, shall we? 'Wake Up' is essentially a bluesy jam with some hard rock overtones, yet the verses of the song actually are more in the psycho-folk vein, again drawing on comparisons with the early Bee Gees. (It's also the first - and the last? - song to quote the band's name, albeit within a rather strange line: 'Aphrodite's Child will tell you on the back'. WAY back? WHOSE back? Back of WHAT? Back of their tattered old English manual?).'Take Your Time' has the audacity to introduce country-westernish guitars and harmonicas - again, there is no mistaking the non-authenticity of this stuff, just like you can always tell a Bee Gees song from a John Fogerty tune, because whenever Europeans are doing country arrangements, they seem to be always crossing them with music hall. That doesn't mean the song isn't professionally and quirkily (in the good sense of the word) produced, and I do love it for the catchiness and fun alone. That is, until the moment it ends in the obligatory "fun in the studio" part; for some reason, every band at the time had to include some 'goofy drunken fun' at the end of one of their songs. Does it belong there? Damned experimentation.The main single from the album, 'Let Me Love Let Me Live' starts out pretty decently, with a ferocious beat, tasty wah-wah licks and one of those, you know, one of those attempts at "teenage declarations" that all the garage bands were competing in a few years ago to see who beats out whom in the sincerity and sharpness department. Well, I don't know anything about sincerity here (not to mention the band members were anything but teenagers at the time), but the melody sure rules. The jam at the end of the song is a bit overlong - I feel that they were just trying to push up the album's running time here (and it's still pretty short at that) - but it gives a great glimpse at their methods of constructing a wall-of-sound, and has a fun rush to the end, too.Meanwhile, 'Funky Mary' shows the band's interest in weird percussive effects. Yep, formally it belongs to funk, I guess, but there's next to no guitar, just layers of totally wild percussion and a thoroughly restrained vocal that just lets you concentrate on all the drums, phased drums, backwards drums, marimbas, and (finally) electric piano that also prefers to function in a percussive way. On 'Good Times So Fine' the band abandons experimentation and goes for some catchy cheesy pop - the irony of the song is how its slow part, with Roussos doing a (rather flaky) Armstrong imitation, totally doesn't fit with its fast bubblegummy part, where the vocals sound like a goofy parody on Micky Dolenz of the Monkees. And 'Such A Funny Night' ends the day with a slice of (presumably Greek-influenced) pop, thoroughly irresistible guitar melodies and lots of the corniest-ever-sounding 'la-la-la's that effectively eliminate any hopes Aphrodite's Child could have garnered of being respected as a serious art-rock band. And looks like we have to thank them for that.The closest analogy among the records the average music fan may have heard is presumably the Bee Gees' 1st - which I actually rated higher than these two records because of its being more "authentic" sounding; there's little doubt in my mind that the Bee Gees had a better understanding of both traditional British and American music than Aphrodite's Child. (Plus, there's simply more songs on that album; make that the decisive factor if you will). However, what the Bee Gees had always lacked themselves was a first-rate musician/composer/arranger/experimentalist, which is why their material can often be considered just plain boring beside Vangelis' goofy, but nearly always eyebrow-raising ideas. Both End Of The World and It's Five O'Clock may suffer from cheesiness and lack of experience, but they always make it up with a one-of-a-kind approach. Granted, this can be witnessed much better on Aphrodite's Child's last - and decisive - recording.

A Beatles-influenced combo from Santa Barbara, who started life as The Vandells. Their compilation appearances have given them a cult following making it impossible to acquire any of their 45s at realistic prices. Their first 45 consists of two folk rock ballads, whilst the second charted locally. Shortly afterwards Rick Morinini left the band, being replaced by the drummer from Ernie and The Emperors, in time for The Third Eye - a stand-out raga piece. Their fourth and final 45 also includes some great guitar work.Compilation appearances have included: What Am I Going To Do on Nuggets Box (4-CD); She's Gone and What Am I Going To Do on Pebbles Vol. 2 (CD) and Pebbles, Vol. 2 (LP); She's Not Just Anybody on Pebbles, Vol. 7 (LP) and Pebbles Vol. 8 (CD); Your Love on Sixties Rebellion, Vol. 6 (LP & CD); The Third Eye on Highs In The Mid Sixties, Vol. 20 (LP) and 30 Seconds Before The Calico Wall (CD); People Ask Me Why and I Could Be Happy on The Cicadelic 60's, Vol. 2 (LP).The great news is that you can have their complete recorded output on one disc. After many years seeking out and talking to many of the band members, Mike Markesich has been able to piece together their story on this absolutely essential release.Few modern bands have been brave enough to attempt to cover Dovers' songs, given the very high esteem in which they're held. So hats off to Buffalo, New York's Mystic Eyes for attempting She's Gone (1997 45 on Get Hip GH-188). Buy it yourself so you can judge whether they've succeeded in doing it justice.(Max Waller / Craig Morrison)

ALBUMS: 1 YESTERDAY'S GONE (World Artists 2002) Aug. 19642 CHAD AND JEREMY SING FOR YOU (World Artists 2005) Feb. 19653 BEFORE AND AFTER (Columbia 9174) Apr. 19654 I DON'T WANT TO LOSE YOU BABY (Columbia 9198) Sept. 19655 THE BEST OF CHAD AND JEREMY (Capitol 2470) Mar. 19666 MORE CHAD AND JEREMY (Capitol 2546) Jun. 19667 DISTANT SHORES (Columbia 2564) Aug. 19668 OF CABBAGES AND KINGS (Columbia 2671) Sep. 19679 THE ARK (Columbia 2899) Aug. 1968NB: (1), (4), (7), (8) and (9) reissued on CD. The World Artists recordings have been compiled on a number of CD's, the best of which is The Best Of Chad And Jeremy (One Way 31380) which has twenty tracks including all the World Artist singles. Perhaps of more interest to psych fans however is the twenty tracck compilation CD Painted Dayglow Smile (Columbia Legacy 47719) from their Columbia years.

Ex-public schoolboys Chad Stuart and Jeremy Clyde were regarded by Americans as examplars of that pinnacle of Western civilization, the Archetypal Englishman, and were hence far more popular stateside than at home - the English being less infatuated with Englishness than Americans. Realizing early on that their appeal lay in the States, they moved their base of operations to Los Angeles and can be regarded as an American act for the purposes of this book. The two met in 1962 while studying at the Central School of Speech and Drama in London and formed a duo, performing folk-based pop material. They signed with Ember Records and had a minor U.K. hit (No. 37) in late 1963 with their debut single, Yesterday's Gone. U.S. label World Artists picked up the U.S. rights to the duo and Yesterday's Gone reached No. 21 in the States in June 1964 followed three months later by their biggest hit, A Summer Song. Willow Weep For Me and If I Loved You (from the musical "Carousel") were also sizable hits but when World Artists failed to pay the pair any royalties, they teamed up with Allen Klein who quickly signed them to Columbia Records in March 1965. Their musical style remained the same, a softly melodic but rather cloying harmony-pop, except for a foray into Righteous Brothers-territory with I Don't Wanna Lose You Baby and a comedy single (Teenage Failure), but they were frequently on TV - not only performing their hits but also demonstrating their acting skills on Batman, the Patty Duke Show, and the Dick Van Dyke Show. In late 1965, while on tour in the mid-West, they discovered future Chicago and Blood, Sweat and Tears manager James William Guercio, who was then playing in a Chicago group called the Mob. They employed him as their bassist and he wrote several songs for them including their final top-40 hit, Distant Shores, and later became their manager. Wearied by the insubstantial nature of their musical output so far, the pair decided to go for something more ambitious and joined up with Byrds and Sagittarius-producer Gary Usher in 1967 for the concept album, Of Cabbages And Kings. The entire second side was devoted to the five-movement Progress Suite which told the story of man from Creation to Nuclear Holocaust. The album however is better remembered by psyche-holics for the 6'46" opening track, Rest in Peace, a gently satirical number inspired by Tony Richardson's film adaptation of the Evelyn Waugh novel, "The Loved One". Their musical swansong, The Ark (spelt Arc on some pressings), was easily their best album with a number of highly evocative tunes like Pipe Dream, Pantheistic Study For Guitar And Large Bird, and Transatlantic Trauma 1966. Gary Usher spent $75,000 in making it a production tour-de-force but was sacked by Columbia for his pains when it failed to chart. The duo also wrote the music for the movie "Three In The Attic" around this time. By this time, Jeremy had decided to devote his flagging energies to acting and the pair split up. Since then, Jeremy has become a well-known actor in England on TV and in the movies while Chad remained in the U.S. writing music for television and stage. The two reunited in 1983 for an album, Chad Stuart & Jeremy Clyde, and also in 1986 for an oldies tour. Compilation appearances have included: Progress Suite Movement on First Vibration (LP). For more information, check out the following websites:http://members.aol.com/bocad/cj.htmhttp://www.jasonrh.com/pgcj.htm

Thursday, September 07, 2006

THE WITCHDOCTORS - a Go-Go

( garage rock revival)

The Witchdoctors EXPLODE out of your stereo like a viscious blast from the past. Lead singer Paul Carey (who earlier sang lead with The Untold Fables) has a raw, ratchety voice that makes no apologies for its sound! Their simple (and simple-minded) early-60's-style rock & roll reminds me more than ANYTHING of the earliest recordings by The Kinks. This may explain their eventual name-change to The Finks (see FILL'ER UP AND GO!). While Steve Hill (and Carey's replacement, Chris Barfield) eventually split off to form The Huntington Cads, the remaining core or Gregg Hunt, Dave Klein & Jake Cavaliere went on to greater success as The Bomboras. With one of the WILDEST live acts confined to bar stages (in some ways a band better SEEN than actually HEARD), it was at their appearance in Philly a couple years ago I first discovered their long legacy. By whatever name, these guys clearly aren't going away. Lucky us!

The 1968 solo album from the Quicksilver Messenger Service lead singer.Moving away from the trademark QMS guitar pyrotechnics, this is a reflective album with a country folky feel that includes a fine version of "Me And My Uncle".Produced by Bob Johnston (the man who oversaw much of Dylan's classic 60's output) it's sound is stripped down to haunting minor acoustic chordsswelled by wads of studio reverb. Chemically deranged b ut incrediblycharming. Fully detailed sleevenotes round off the package with some great shots of Dino busking.

This album typifies the hippie-folk-troubadour syndrome with strumming, everb-laden 12-string guitar and romantic odes of passion and heartbreak. Valente's pliant warble practically floats alone on these 12 strange songs. While this music is folkish in nature, Valente's vocals display an offbeat, almost jazzy inflection reminiscent of the late Tim Buckley.

One of my favourite voices in 60's in an amazing solo effort, with hippy psychedelic touch !

I really enjoy this album !!

Chester William Powers, Jr. (7 August 1943–16 November 1994), better known as Dino Valente, and credited sometimes as Jesse Oris Farrow, was an American singer/songwriter.

He was born in New York City, and died in Santa Rosa, California. In the early 1960s, while a member of the Greenwich Village folk scene, he wrote "Get Together", a quintessential 1960s love-and-peace anthem, later recorded by Jefferson Airplane, The Youngbloods, and many others. While in Greenwich Village, he played often with singer-songwriter Fred Neil. He wasan original member of the Quicksilver Messenger Service, but his career was blighted by frequent drug busts. Powers (or one of his pseudonyms) is sometimes erroneously credited as the author of the rock standard "Hey Joe".

Dino Valenti started out as part of the bi-coastal early '60s folk scene. He befriended and briefly shared a houseboat with David Crosby, and let Mike Clarke accompany him on bongos. During those years, Valenti recorded some songs with Byrds manager Jim Dickson, which led to Dickson recording Crosby.Around this time, Valenti wrote the folk-rock classic "Get Together," the first song published by Tickson Music, Jim Dickson and Eddie Tickner's music publishing company. The song was a monster hit for the Youngbloods in 1967 and the theme song for the National Conference of Christians and Jews in 1969.Valenti also copyrighted a version of the song "Hey Joe" under his real name, Chester Powers. Crosby often sang the song with the Byrds, well before they recorded it on Fifth Dimension, and is responsible for popularizing it on the West Coast. In 1964 Valenti helped found the San Francisco band Quicksilver Messenger Service, but he got thrown in jail on a drug bust before they ever recorded.He rejoined them in 1970, just in time for their one big hit, "Fresh Air."

Dino Valente journeyed ahead on Wednesday, November 16, 1994 at home in Santa Rosa, California. He was 57.

PS: If you would like to find out everything about Dino Valente, you could try at this linkhttp://www.power-pro.com/dinovalenti/gettogether.ht

"The home base for My Indole Ring was The Retinal Circus in Vancouver B.C. An album planned for Vanguard Records is now released for the first time. Acid Westcoast rock with trippy guitars, soundeffects and vocals with soul. With bonus tracks. In 1966 a rock band whimsically named The Jabberwock was formed in Vancouver, British Columbia. This group evolved into the unique acid/blues/rock phenomenon My Indole Ring. Most of the songs on this LP are original Ring compositions and soon became signature tunes for the band, such as Orange Float Petals. This is a selection of raw cuts recorded in just one or two takes in the studio -- giving them a spontaneous feel, reminiscent of the era. The exception is the last three songs -- 'Wake Me Shake Me', 'Come See Me in the Morning', and 'Orange Float Petals -- all recorded live at the Retinal Circus. You can sit back and imagine yourself in the midst of the sunken dance floor with the pulsating light show swirling about your head and the floors and walls literally vibrating with the movement and sound. This is a unique insight into the unbridled energy and excitement of the Retinal Circus, a venue that became legendary in the West Coast music scene. A glimpse into a piece of music history."

Friday, September 01, 2006

BIGROUP-Big Hammer (1971)

This is a repressing of the legendary Big Hammer by The Bigroup,a library record from a group made up of UK studio musicians, originally released by Peer International in 1971 and licensed to Olympo in Spain.The original pressing of Big Hammer by The Bigroup has been very much in demand by crate diggers and progressive rock collectors and one listen to it will tell why - pretty much every track is a killer!

While in the US there were many movie soundtracks, in the UK and muchof Europe most of the film and TV industry used music library LPs.These LPs - which were not on sale to the general public - were madeby experienced studio musicians, often recording an album's worth of material in one session, and the music was later matched to the relevant programme.This remains a rich source of good funky music with albums being made by artists such as Herbie Flowers, Keith Mansfield, Alan Hawkshaw, John Cameron and Eddie Warner.There are also many useful records for people looking for samples with breaks, percussion tracks and many stripped down versions of tunes with just bass and drums or bass and piano. Often the music was created for a movie; commercial and so on, but when published it was not specifiedon the record. Now often it can't even be traced back.Apart from the many library LPs which are considered obsolete, some have gained quite a status amongst collectors. Specifically those LPs that were made in specific genres such as the "jazzy groovy beat", the "progressive rock", "the psychedelic folk"... The Bigroup is one of these bands that did do only 2 albums. Actually 1 album, with twodifferent titles and labels but the same music. The most collectible one (we leave finding details on the alternative up to you as this isquite a challenge) is the original release on "Peer International" from 1971 (presumably).This library label actually does have some more collectible releases. Always the details on the release are very scarce and little is known on the musicians. We know the LP was madeby Johnny Scott, aka Patrick J. O'Hara Scott, and some personnel. Wealso know is that this LP has nothing but pearls of "Progressive" tracks included with as best track amongst only good tracks : "Heavy Lift".

Peer, as said, is known to be one of these collectible classy library labels but a problem is that all LPs only got very limited pressings. This LP really has it all : a lot of mistery around the artists, greatmusic with multi-instruments, heavy rock and fuzz, incredible drumbreaks,... Most prominent instruments are the bass, the hammond andthe drums. It is the bridge between 60's beat and 70's progressive and psychedelic rock.